Almond Flour Strawberry Banana Muffins

Shopping local is relatively new to me. While visiting my mom in Washington, DC over weekends, we’d often stroll around the city farmer’s markets. And by “stroll”, I mean I sampled all of the fruits and desserts while my mom fulfilled her weekly grocery list. I dabbled in “shopping local” in undergrad during infrequent visits to the farmer’s market or random boutiques downtown.

It wasn’t until moving here to Charlottesville that I made a bigger effort to shop local. While I don’t get to the city market as much as I’d like, there are a number of awesome boutiques – O’Suzannah, Roxie Daisy, and Rock Paper Scissors are my favorites – where I’ve been buying greeting cards and gifts for friends and family.

This week’s Foodie Friday theme is Farmer’s Market Finds, and gave me the perfect opportunity to rave about my first local purchase in Charlottesville: JAM According to Daniel.

A photo posted by Jess Dang (@hellotofit_) on May 18, 2016 at 12:10pm PDT

Samples of food are the way to my heart, and that’s how I fell in love with JAM According to Daniel three years ago. After a baby spoonful of Strawberry Rhubarb, I was hooked. I can’t even remember the other products I went home with, because this stuck with me.

Unlike your run-of-the-mill jam flavors, JAM According to Daniel is unique. With flavors like blueberry lemon and plum lime, who wouldn’t be interested? Another bonus for me was that there are MINIMAL ingredients involved. Check out the ingredients of our featured strawberry apricot: apricots, strawberries, organic evaporated cane juice, and lemon juice.

I could go on about how addicting this jam is, but let’s get to the actual recipe, yes?

Thanks to the bulk bins at Whole Foods, I didn’t need to commit to an entire bag of almond flour. Rookie mistake! I should have, since this recipe entered baller-status.

Alternative flours leave me skeptical at first. I play the comparison game with all-purpose flour, and I wanted to create a recipe that had a fluffy, muffin-like texture. My first trial was with coconut flour, and the results were less than ideal. Maybe I didn’t play around with the cooking time enough, but the coconut flour muffins turned out kind of wet; they were missing that light and fluffy texture I craved.

These almond flour strawberry banana muffins were a HIT, to say the least. The recipe can be made by hand, which is nice when you’re running low on time and need to whip up a batch for the week. After about 25 minutes, scents of freshly baked banana bread fill the kitchen, and I couldn’t wait to take these babies out of the oven.

JAM According to Daniel is like icing on the cake. Before baking, each muffin is topped with a little dollop of jam; by the time the muffins are done, you have a nice swirl of strawberry-apricot jam within each banana muffin.

It’s not a complete muffin recipe if it doesn’t involve trying one right out of the oven. After they cooled down a bit, I took a fork and dug into one. Okay…two. The most obvious difference between using almond flour and coconut flour is seen when you peel the liner away from the muffin: it comes off easy! Again, perhaps I didn’t get my coconut muffins “just right”, but that doesn’t bother me anymore. Coconut flour, you’ve been replaced! Sorry ‘bout it…

My favorite way to enjoy these almond flour strawberry banana muffins are alongside a breakfast plate of eggs over easy and half of an avocado. Yesterday, I got a little adventurous and crumbled it overtop of a cup of Siggi’s plain 4% yogurt. Don’t hate ‘till you try! It was like a casual parfait snack between clients.

However you like to enjoy your muffins, don’t be afraid to experiment with different flours! I wouldn’t necessarily stick with just almond flour 100% of the time, but it’s nice to try new things and see what passes The Ray Taste Test (test is passed when Ray says “yes” to the question, “Would you eat this again?”). Spoiler alert: he thought these were delicious.

28 comments

Ashley

May 20, 2016 at 12:32 pm

Muffins and yogurt, heck yes! I love the look of these muffins, Jess! And love supporting local businesses too. That jam looks so good.
I love whole wheat white flour for more nutritional value compared to all-purpose. And because I am not gluten-intolerant I often use that in baking. But again, love experimenting with different alternatives. Coconut, oat, and almond flours are my other go-tos!

Beverley @ BORNTOSWEAT

May 20, 2016 at 1:26 pm

honestly, almond flour is my absolute FAV. i’ve only baked with it a couple times and have loved the outcome each time. plus it’s so much healthierrrrrrrrr and usually on sale at Bulk Barn (so obviously i love).
Have a great weekend Jess! xxBeverley @ BORNTOSWEAT recently posted…Oven Roasted Salmon Rice Bowl

That jam look so yummy!! I love buying things like that from small, local businesses. So much better than what you find in store.

Erin @ Erin’s Inside Job

May 20, 2016 at 2:02 pm

These look so delicious. Can you just come over and bake for me? I seem to only get the baking bug when it turns cold out in the fall and winter.Erin @ Erin’s Inside Job recently posted…Five Things Friday #87

The local finds in Charlottesville are so bountiful! I always love seeing what Kath Eats Real Food posts about the new products and everything in cville.

Chrissa – Physical Kitchness

May 20, 2016 at 6:30 pm

WOW you texture here is SPOT ON! I must make these. Coconut flour is definitely tricky since it’s so DENSE. Jess you nailed these muffins. I cannot wait to make them – I’m sure my little guy will love too!

These muffins look so good, and that jam sounds incredible. Love using almond flour for baking. And samples are the way to my heart too. That’s why I love Costco so much haha.Les @ The Balanced Berry recently posted…Healthy Trader Joe’s Grocery Staples

Sam @ PancakeWarriors

May 20, 2016 at 7:50 pm

Girl these muffins. I’m swooning. I haven’t had a banana muffin in so long. Please give me these now!!Sam @ PancakeWarriors recently posted…Plant Based Diet FAQ’s

kerri mcgrail

May 20, 2016 at 10:27 pm

I used to HATE strawberry-banana flavored things/ combination, but now I have been doing strawberries and bananas in my oats & love the combo! These sound good! Love using bananas in baking!kerri mcgrail recently posted…6 Best Ways to Improve Digestion

Joscelyn | Wifemamafoodie

May 21, 2016 at 12:27 am

Ooh, I have a bag of almond flour begging to be used. These sound so delish, Jess! Love how you added jam too. I heart the bulk bins, especially for my grains and nuts! Berry jams are my fave…and peach too! YUM!Joscelyn | Wifemamafoodie recently posted…Foodie Friend Friday: Christine from Yommme!

Jen

May 21, 2016 at 12:58 pm

Yummmy! These look so tasty! I’m always looking for muffin recipes that don’t call for regular flour! I need to go to our farmer’s market! It just opened a couple weeks ago and I have yet to go. I love getting jam from there – always so much better than store bought. I love a good mixed berry or raspberry!Jen recently posted…Drawing the line between making excuses & listening to your body

Oooh, these look so so good! I am loving anything with strawberry jam at the moment so I’ll have to try them out!

As for shopping local, we try to shop at our local farmers market as much as possible! Not only is the produce so much tastier as it’s fresh, it’s fun to hear the stories of the growers too!Kristy @ Southern In Law recently posted…Recipe: Healthy Chicken and Dumpling Soup

lindsay Cotter

May 22, 2016 at 10:39 pm

daniel is spot on! icing on the cake in JAM form! <3 it

Farrah

May 22, 2016 at 11:03 pm

I love this idea! 😀 Yay for almond flour! I haven’t made muffins in a while, but this would be a great way to get back in there! 😛 (Yay for farmer’s markets! <3 I just got some jam from my local market that I'm super excited to use too! :] )Farrah recently posted…Simple Baked Eggs

I love the bulk bins! They’re my favorite part of the grocery store after the produce department. These muffins look delicious! Too bad I don’t have enough almond flour on hand or I would make them right now.Laura @ This Runner’s Recipes recently posted…Jack and Jill (Half?) Marathon Training Week 6

Ivanna

May 23, 2016 at 8:45 pm

These look yummy I love that they are made with Almond flour yum yum

jill conyers

May 24, 2016 at 4:00 am

The muffins look delicious Jess. Almond flour is one of my favorites for baking gluten free.